Overhead conductor for electric railways



N6 Model. 2 sheets-4mm, 1.

C. J. VAN DEPOELE. OVERHEAD CONDUCTOR FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. N0. 334,062.

Patented Jan. W 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

O. J. VANDEPOELE. I

OVERHEAD CONDUCTOR FOB ELECTRIC BAILWAYS.

Patented Jan." 12, 1886.

N. PETERS, PhuIa-Lilhngm hsr. wnmn m n.c.

NITED STATES FFICE.

PATENT CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334.062, dated January 12, 1886.

Application filed August 1, 1885. Serial No. 173,281.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. VAN DE- POELE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Overhead Conductors for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the acoompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in conductors for electric railways; and it consists in improvements in the form and construction of the conductor itself, as well as the means for retaining the same in its operative position, and for taking off the current therefrom to drive the propelling mechanism, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a railway-car and a portion of the devices above referred to and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View of the devices shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views showing-the method of constructing the compound conductor and suspending it in position for use. Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of the contact devices. Fig. 7 shows the method of arranging tracks and conductors for switching a car from one line to another. Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Similar letters indicate the same parts.

A is the car, which for the purposes of this invention may be supported on any style of roadway.

B is a post placed at the side of or between the tracks, and it is provided with a horizontal arm or arms, 1), extending to a point directly over the track or tracks, which arm preferably consists of a section of iron tube screwed into a T-piece at the top of the post, and is provided at its extremity with a suitably-insulated link or hook, I), to which is attached by means of a suitable hook, C, a strap or band, C, of any insulating material, which strap is protected by a hood, C, which envelops at least the upper portion thereof extending from the end of the transverse arm b, and by covering the strap C prevents its insulating properties being affected by moisture. The insulated strap is attached to and carries a cable, D, which extends along the road, and is of high tensile strength, and on that account is usually made of steel.

(No model.)

The conductor proper, E, from which the current is taken, is composed of two layers of flat iron bars, e e, the joints of which are lapped so as to give the greatest strength and the most rigidity.- The compound bar E is then faced at its under side with a strip of copper, e. To the upper side of the conductor E, at short intervals, are securely attached the swiveled stirrups F, the adjusting-screws f of which are secured at their outer ends to the cable D by suitable clips, f. E is protected from the weather and from the accumulation of water and ice by a continuous metallic cover, G, which is attached to its upper surface below the stirrups F, and, being continuous, forms a roof capable of fully protecting the conductor from the top and sides. Upon the top of each motor-car is located the frame H, within which is placed the contactroller h, which is mounted in vertically-moving journals supported within the frame H, and forced upward with a constant and steady pressure by the spring I, and thereby brought into and kept in contact with the under side of the suspended conductor E.

In order to make switches and to enable the car to pass readily from one line to another, the flat-surface conductors are united at the desired point, substantially as shown in Fig. 7, and theunder sides of all the conductors being flat and perfectly even it will be readily understood that the roller h can pass freely from one to the other, and the cars be moved in the direction determined by the direction of the track upon which it is traveling or to travel.

It will be obvious that contact-brushes might in some if not all cases be substituted for the roller h, and also that the compound conductor E could readily be made sufficiently strong and rigid to bear its own weight without inconvenient sagging when suspended only and directly from the poles B. By using the cable D and numerous adjusting devices F, however, the poles B can be placed a considerable distance apart, the compound conductor constructed of lighter and less-expensive material, and at the same time by means of its numerous connections to the cable be held in a practically horizontal line, the sag of the cable between the posts being compensated for by means of the adjusting-stirrups F,

The conductor which, being wholly of metal, allow the cable to be used as a conductor in conjunctionwith the cover G and conductor E, which latter under such circumstances is made lighter than it could otherwise be. r

In order to avoid corrosion of the flat iron bars, they should be galvanized with zinc, or, better, copper-plated, and the copper face can be permanently soldered or brazed to the face of the iron bars. The supporting-cable itself is solidly held by any suitable means at both ends of its length, so that its sag can be taken up occasionally.

In the present application a single overhead conductor is shown, advantage being taken of the track below serving as a return-conductor, although two insulated conductors can be similarly suspended-one positive and the other 11egative-both, however, being protected by the running cover. In this case one of the conductors is to be insulated by any of the known means from the suspendingcable and the cover, both being still protected from the weather. With a double overhead conductor the switches or shunts on the road have to be suitably arranged so as not to be short-circuited by the traveling contact. This latter feature will, however, form matter for another application, and is not herein claimed.

The branching conductor shown and described in this application is not broadly claimed herein, as it forms part of the subjectmatter of a separate invention.

\Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a car and a vertically-yielding contact roller or brush, of a suspended conductor, and means, substantially as described, for adj ustably supporting the same in a practically horizontal plane, as set forth.

2. The combination, with a car provided with a contact device, of a series of posts hav ing arms extending over the path of the'car, a conductor, a cable of high tensile strength secured to said arms, and which is also a conductor, and means, as described, for electrically connecting the cable and conductor and suspending the latter from said cable in a. practically horizontal plane above said car, as set forth.

3. The combination, with a car provided with a vertically-yielding contact device, of a series of posts having horizontal arms extending above the path of the car, a cable suspended from the end of the transverse arm, means, as described, for insulating the cable from the posts, a conductor,and means,as described,for suspending the conductor below the cable and placing it in electrical connection therewith and in the path of the contact device, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a car provided with a vertically-yielding fiat contact device, of a series of posts having horizontal arms extending over the path of the car, a cable suspended from the end of the transverse arm, means, as described, for insulating the cable from the posts, a flat-surface conductor, and means, as described, for suspending said conductor below the cable and in the path of the contact device, substantially as set forth.

5'. In asystem of suspended electric-railway conductors, the combination, with a branching conductor, of a branching metallic cover or roof therefor, forming part of the conductor, substantially as set forth.

6. In a system of suspended railway-conductors, the continuous cover or roof G, of thin sheet metal, arranged along the top and sides of the conductor, protecting the said conductor from Water and ice and increasing its capacity, substantially as'described.

7. The combination, with the conductor E, of the adjustable stirrups F, the cable D, the insulated suspenders O, hood 0, the transverse arm b, and the post B, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE. Witnesses:

JOHN EASON, WARREN S. STEARNS. 

